


Cupid's Rainbow

by WhatWouldLilyDo



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Neighbors, Alternate Universe - Online Dating, M/M, Multi, Mutual Pining, POV Multiple
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-21
Updated: 2017-08-21
Packaged: 2018-12-10 15:36:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 10,952
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11694684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhatWouldLilyDo/pseuds/WhatWouldLilyDo
Summary: There's a new dating app trending, and it might be worth a try - at least as long as he can't pluck up the courage to talk to that neighbor he has a crush on.





	1. Ransom

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by [Brioux](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brioux/pseuds/Brioux) in the [OMGCP_Heartbreak_Fest_2017](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/OMGCP_Heartbreak_Fest_2017) collection. 



> **Prompt:**
> 
>  
> 
> Characters/Pairings: Preferably Bitty and Ransom, but really anything that doesn't include Jack is fine.  
> Prompt Details: Your classic "pining for my neighbor" trope with a splash of mistaken identity.  
> Additional Info: AU where one is semi-famous (athlete, youtuber, etc) and the other is super successful at their job, but is far in the closet at work. They're neighbors, both pining for each other, and they both sign up for the same dating website. But since one is semi-famous and the other is still in the closet, neither of them put their faces on their profiles or use their real names. They match with each other and fall in love over the internet, but they both feel super guilty because they're both still pining for each other in real life.  
> Squicks: The normal stuff, non-con or underaged. And no Jack at all.  
> Maximum Rating: Whatever you want.

The downside of being a sports physician and living one block away from a former college teammate, now turned NHL star, was that work had an unfortunate habit of following Ransom home. He only had time to crack open a beer and turn on the television before aforementioned NHL star, Derek Nurse walked into the apartment without knocking, sat down and swung his leg into Ransom’s lap.

“It's still hurting, bro.”

Ransom sighed and took a long drink from his beer. “So go home and rest it like I told you to.”

Nursey did at least pretend to consider the suggestion, which was more than Ransom had expected.

“Nah, that's boring. We're watching Disney Channel?”

“I haven’t had chance to change the channel yet. Holster watches it while he's having breakfast sometimes.”

“Nah, it's chill. Oh, hey, guess who I saw on my way over?”

Ransom cast his mind around for anyone who might be enough of a surprise to see to mention, but still likely to be somewhere in between their two apartments. He shrugged.

“Cute Blondie. He was videoing himself again. I'm starting to worry he's a narcissist.”

Ransom hit him in the leg, making sure to avoid the place where he knew a bruise stretched up from his ankle. “Don't be mean. And I'm over that.”

It was only half a lie. He was over the dream that his neighbor might ever notice him as anyone more than someone he politely smiled at when they passed in the corridor.

Nursey hummed in disbelief. “You're over the image of him in those booty shorts?”

“No fair, that's completely different.” Ransom heated up over the thought. Nursey choked out a laugh.

“Do you ever think about dating anyone else, though? Especially now Holster’s travelling so much?”

Ransom shifted. Holster had asked the same question last week. “It was bad enough telling my parents about Holtzy and me. Anyway, It'll be so complicated trying to find someone else. People would jump to cheating or a break up long before polyamory. Well. The people who know I'm in a relationship in the first place.”

Nursey shook his head. “I'm not suggesting you go to a club and start flirting with strangers, or even that you give yourself a shot with Mr Selfie down the hall. Have you heard of Cupid’s Rainbow?”

“The gay dating app?”

“Not just gay! It's for all sexualities and genders. In fact I've heard there's a lot of people on there who are straight but struggle with other forms of discrimination in dating. It's supposed to be really good about matching people, and they weed out all the trolls and bots quicker than a lot of apps like that.”

Ransom gave Nursey a sidelong glance. “Why do you know so much about it?”

“C wants me to sign up,” Nursey replied with a shrug. “He thinks it'll be a good way to meet people outside of hockey because it'll take away the worry over how they'll react to me being ace because they'll already know.”

“Chowder hasn't dated in two years.”

“Bro, I don't question the goalie logic. Except, yeah, that's what I said and he said he still hooks up on the regular and doesn't spend all his time only hanging out with hockey players or reading.”

If it weren't for the fact that Nursey had been more clingy recently, and had a sadness in his eyes which screamed of loneliness, Ransom might have thought Chowder was overreacting. As it was, he narrowed his eyes. “So you signed up?”

“Fuck, no. I don't need no significant other.”

“How about if you sign up, I will too?” he asked. He would probably regret this later. “Once I've run it past Holster, of course.”

Nursey chewed on his lips as he thought it over. “Deal.”


	2. Bitty

Eric Bittle turned his phone over in his hands. He was more contemplating the app he had just downloaded than the video on his laptop screen. After all, he was only watching this particular YouTuber because the politics of online friendship dictated he should. They had enough mutual friends, and at the next vidcon they were to be on the same panel, so they had to be acquainted with each other’s content. Frankly, Bitty was not a fan.

His phone beeped with a Twitter notification. _@farmserve just Tweeted!_

> _**@farmserve:** Really looking forward to seeing if @cupidsrainbow lives up to reviews!_

Bitty snorted. Farmer had told him he could use the app anonymously and keep it on the down low that he had downloaded it. She was clearly taking no such precautions. Then again, a scroll through the comments her tweet had already elicited showed all her followers to be supportive and giving their own reviews of the app if they could. Both of them had learned to avoid their tumblr tags, but as a result of their respective demographics, Bitty was more often the victim of sexualisation in his comment sections, and hate when people saw him as getting in the middle of their ships. Not only that, but he couldn’t believe he wouldn't have some superfans trying to catfish him if he advertised his using a dating app.

He tried to distract himself with the video montage on his screen. What he saw only caused him to roll his eyes.

“That's the same technique I used a month ago and you know it,” he grumbled, though chadschannel would never hear him. He let out a grunt of frustration and turned his attention to his phone instead. He logged in with Instagram, and immediately the app showed him people to connect with. Frowning, Bitty navigated to his profile first. It had automatically used his Instagram picture, which he quickly changed to an innocuous picture Dex had taken of him the other week. He had been aiming for a sunset aesthetic for social media, but the light had thrown him so far into shadow that he had decided not to use it at the time. Now, it seemed perfect. Nobody could tell it was him, but they also couldn’t say he hadn’t used a picture of himself. After some hesitation, he put his middle name into the ‘name’ field, and he filled in the other criteria — gender, sexuality, hobbies. By the time he clicked the home button, it had reassessed his potential suitors, and he was being asked to swipe right or left on a man with a face tattoo that made Bitty wince.

The video came to an end while he was enjoying making shallow judgements on people's appearances. He put on the next video from his subscription list and looked back at the app. The next picture was of a Toronto Maple Leafs snapback, though the jersey he wore was a Falconers one. In fact, when Bitty looked closely, he was fairly sure it was a Nursey jersey. The name on the profile said Jay, and he claimed to be a bisexual polyamorous man, who lived with his boyfriend. His location was within a mile of Bitty’s, if the app was to be trusted. Bitty hesitated to swipe right on someone already in a relationship, but it was the Nurse jersey which swayed him. He didn’t know much about polyamory, but it was just a fun app to meet people so he didn’t need to worry about it for now.

He switched out of the app to the group text with Dex and Farmer.

 

 

> _Bitty  
>  _ Tfw you swipe right on someone just because they're wearing Derek Nurse’s jersey
> 
>  
> 
> _Farmer  
>  _ LOL
> 
>  
> 
> _Dex  
>  _ I hate you so much
> 
>  
> 
> _Bitty_  
>  What?  
>  Dex you wound me
> 
>  
> 
> _Dex  
>  _ Every fucking day one of you brings him up like you think I'm obsessed with him or something
> 
>  
> 
> _Farmer  
>  _ Sweetie, you are obsessed with him.
> 
>  
> 
> _Dex  
>  _ He is the most annoying person to have ever lived in the same building as me.
> 
>  
> 
> _Bitty  
>  _ Sure thing, honey.


	3. Nursey

_You've made a match!_

Nursey raised his eyebrows over the profile which had triggered the notification. So far all of his matches had been other people on the ace spectrum, but this was a woman who had listed her sexuality as ‘like a 1.2 on the Kinsey scale’. Her description elaborated, ‘the Kinsey scale is all sorts of messed up but it's the easiest measure of sexuality for me.’ The picture showed a brunette making a ‘d’ sign in ASL, and her name was listed as Cait. Nursey had a little scroll through her hobbies before sending a message.

 

 

> _D  
>  _ hi! you're into youtube?
> 
>  
> 
> _Cait_  
>  Yeah! I actually have my own channel.  
>  You know, I really have to ask… why is your pic a tree?
> 
>  
> 
> _D_  
>  it’s my insta pic rn and i didn’t want to put my face on so i left it  
>  i like trees  
>  what sort of channel?
> 
>  
> 
> _Cait_  
>  Cool  
>  A mixture of things?  
>  It started off as a college vlog documenting my experiences as a Deaf athlete, and then I met some other youtubers and it all kicked off  
>  Mostly general vlogging though now, I guess?
> 
>  
> 
> _D_  
>  huh, okay  
>  what sport?  
>  can i watch?
> 
>  
> 
> _Cait_  
>  Volleyball!  
>  And of course!  
>  I’m farmserve
> 
>  
> 
> _D  
>  _ i’m at work rn, but i’ll check it out when i’m home
> 
>  
> 
> _Cait_  
>  Cool  
>  So what were you looking to get out of this whole thing? I'm pretty relaxed about it. Both my best friends are pining mercilessly after their neighbors so I kind of wanted my own person, but I'm mostly just checking the app out and seeing what happens.  
>  Well I’m sort of reviewing it for my channel, too, but mostly seeing what happens
> 
>  
> 
> _D_  
>  oh yeah i get the pining thing  
>  well idk  
>  i maybe do  
>  sex is a weird thing to me?  
>  i'm just always around the same fucking people and it's hard to meet new people
> 
>  
> 
> _Cait  
>  _ Ah okay  
>  Hopefully this works well for you then?

 

“Are you ready to go?”

Nursey jumped and looked up from his phone at Chowder. “I was waiting for you, bro. Rans coming?”

“He's waiting for us at his car. Is the app going well then? Are you talking to someone?” Chowder gestured toward Nursey’s phone.

“Uh, yeah,” Nursey said with a shrug. “Cait. She seems chill.” He turned his phone so Chowder could see.

“Oh! She's really cute!”

Nursey nodded slowly. Once again he questioned why he was putting himself through this when a person’s appearance meant nothing to him in terms of attraction. The last time he'd actually _noticed_ how someone looked… Well, the image of the ginger guy from next door shirtless and covered in sweat as he repaired the elevator was burnt in his mind. He didn’t think the guy was even a repairman, given that most of the time he dressed in pressed suits.

Ransom was smirking at his phone when they approached him. One look at Nursey and he collapsed against his car, laughing.

“What happened?!”

Not for the first time, Nursey was happy that Chowder was always willing to ask, so he didn’t have to.

“Brah, listen to this. ‘I couldn't swipe left on Derek Nurse’s jersey. Would it be weird to make our first conversation about how hot he is?’”

Chowder looked doubtful. “…Yes?”

Nursey rolled his eyes. “It's chill. I already knew you thought that.”


	4. Ransom

_Jay_  
I don't think it's too weird  
you'd have to be blind not to think he's p damn good looking

 

 _Richard  
_ Right!

 

 _Jay  
_ Mashkov though

 

 _Richard_  
Mashkov!  
He’s the best  
I have a Falconers season ticket but I don't get to go as much as I'd like

 

 _Jay  
_ I go to most of their games actually

 

 _Richard  
_ The home ones you mean?

 

 _Jay  
_ Mmm

 

 _Richard  
_ But you're a Maple Leafs fan too?

 

 _Jay  
_ I'm from Toronto, so yeah, but I'm a general hockey fan

 

 _Richard_  
Oh, cool  
I'm from Georgia and hockey's not so big down there, but my best friend’s VERY new England so Falconers support was obligatory.

 

 _Jay_  
Haha yeah I get that  
I mean  
I don't because both my best friends are from NY but they think they're new englanders  
the one grew up on the rangers but he's a falcs boy now  
The other’s from upstate and he switched loyalty from the bruins after Mashkov came out

 

 _Richard_  
Most of my support for them is their LGBT support, too  
Funny how things happen, right?

 

 _Jay_  
Sure is  
So Georgia, eh?  
how'd you end up in Providence?

 

 _Richard_  
I decided to go travelling instead of college, and Providence happened to be where I had ended up when I stopped travelling  
how about you?

 

 _Jay_  
School originally, in MA but close enough to RI that it wasn’t that big a move  
I met Adam there and now I have my job

 

 _Richard  
_ Adam’s your partner?

 

 _Jay_  
Yeah!  
He's the best  
He was so great about it when I said I was going to try this whole dating app thing

 

 _Richard_  
That's good!  
So  
If you met someone on here would you expect them to have a relationship with him too?

 

 _Jay_  
God no  
If it went that way it would be fine, you know?  
Great even  
But he's never shown any interest in polyamory and I'd never try and force it  
If I actually ended up in a relationship with someone from on here, they'd have to get along with him if it was going to work out, but that's all  
Either way, there's always an open door to communication in our house so nobody would ever be left uncertain what was going on

 

 _Richard_  
Oh, okay  
I’ll be honest I don’t know much about polyamory

 

 _Jay_  
How about for now we chat without Adam being a factor and if we find we get on then I’ll link you to some sites which helped me?  
Honestly, no pressure

 

 _Richard_  
It’s okay, I’ll google it myself  
So just hockey or are you into any other sports?


	5. Dex

“I need my cameraman!”

Dex bit back a sigh. “Excuse me,” he told the investors he had been schmoozing with, before stepping away, phone to ear, to reply to Bitty’s plea. “I'm working, Bitty. This deal is really important for the business. Ask Cait.”

“Dex,” Bitty whined.

“If you want my help you'll have to wait until I'm  _ not working.” _

There was a mumble on the other end of the phone which sounded like, “You're always working.” Dex ignored him, said a hasty goodbye before Bitty could bargain with him, and hung up.

He made sure to switch his phone to do not disturb before walking back up to his investors. He didn’t need to be distracted by the constant chatter between Bitty and Cait about the people they had met on that stupid dating app.

It had been a week, now, since Cait had first said in their group chat that she wanted to try the app out, and ever since it had been all Dex had heard about. Both of them had talked to dozens of people, but had particular people they had been chatting with more or less since the start. The fact Bitty had continued to tell Dex whenever Derek Nurse was in his building, though, implied he was still spying on the neighbor he had a crush on. It made Dex wonder how Bitty could ever form a connection with someone he had only ever talked to online. He couldn’t even get to know the guy he had been pining after ever since the time ‘Salmon Shorts’ had gone round to ask if he could borrow some sugar.

It was an hour later when he left the dinner event and checked his messages. True to his predictions, the majority of his notifications were comprised of Bitty and Cait discussing their matches. Dex rolled his eyes and shoved his phone back in his pocket as he started the walk home. Despite working his way up to a managerial position in the business he had joined out of college, Dex hadn’t thrown off the habits of frugality which his childhood had instilled in him. Where some people would call an Uber, Dex walked, even if it took him forty minutes.

It was late by the time he got home, but dreams of crashing straight into bed were quashed by the booming bass from next door.

“Fucking—”

Dex passed by his own door in favor of banging on Nurse’s. The door swung open to reveal the Falconers’ goalie, Chris Chow, seeming extremely small without any pads. His face was flushed, as if he had just played a game, even though it was their bye week.

“Chris Chow,” Dex marveled. It was bizarre to see one of his idols, regardless of whether or not it was reasonable for him to be surprised his NHL neighbor occasionally hosted teammates.

“Hey! That's my name too!” Chow replied, a grin stretching wider than Dex had ever seen before.

“Bro,” a man the same height as Dex said, appearing behind Chow and plucking the beer out of his hand. “I'm cutting you off. Sorry about him,” he added to Dex. “One Natty Light and he's gone. I'm Ransom.”

“Uh, Dex. I live next door. I came over to ask if you could turn the music down.”

“Next door?” Ransom repeated, and his eyes lit up. “Hey Nursey! Dex from next door’s here!”

Dex started to protest. “No, I don't need to speak to—”

Derek Nurse was already there, though, a smooth “Chill,” rolling off his tongue.

“Dex from next door?” A fourth voice asked, and the doorway became even more crowded. The newcomer was even larger, with a good two inches on Dex, Nurse and Ransom, leaving Chow looking positively tiny, even as a five foot ten goalie. Faced with the two non-Falconers players the pieces fell into place. They fit the descriptions of the two people who lived down the hall from Bitty; the two who were often visited by Derek Nurse himself, thus triggering Bitty to chirp Dex into oblivion about the Falconers number 28.

“You're Salmon Shorts,” he said to Ransom, before his brain had chance to remind him not to say it outloud.

“Sorry?”

“Shit. I mean— a friend of mine lives in the apartment block next to that brunch place down the road? Jerry’s? And—” he paused, trying to think of how to explain why they might have a code name for someone which didn’t boil down to Bitty’s crush.

“Jerry’s does brunch?” Ransom asked.

“Bro,” Blond Giant said, shooting Ransom a nonplussed stare. It occurred to Dex that he still didn’t have a name for Ransom’s roommate. Or a relationship status to relate back to Bitty.

“Uh, yeah? Anyway, he noticed Nurse visiting his neighbors a lot and he knows I live by him, so he's mentioned them occasionally. That's you, right?”

Ransom’s eyes bugged and he didn’t respond. Blond Giant's hand rested on Ransom’s shoulder, though, and he flashed a toothy grin when he nodded. “That's us! Ransom and Holster.”

Ransom seemed to find his voice, but he stuttered over some words before forcing out, “Jerry's does brunch?” again.

“Next date,” Holster said, in such a way which made it clear it was a promise. Dex bit his lip. He wasn’t looking forward to telling Bitty about that. When Holster dragged Ransom back into the apartment, Dex had no choice but to look Derek Nurse in the eye. They didn't interact often, but Dex was in awe of Nurse’s eyes, and the long lashes which framed them.

“Uh, so anyway I've had a really long day and I have to be up early tomorrow for a conference call with someone in London, so if you could turn the music down, I'd appreciate it.”


	6. Nursey

Nursey stared at the spot where _Dex_ (and wasn’t it so strange to finally have a name to put to the face) had been. It was startling: the difference between the awe in his eyes when he had seen Chowder, compared to the discomfort rolling off him when he had stopped avoiding Nursey’s gaze. It wasn’t the first time Dex had initiated a conversation only to tell him to turn his music down, or his television speakers, or to complain about the faulty alarm clock which had been going off for an entire five day roadie, but only now was it occurring to Nursey that while he had been falling for his neighbor in a way he rarely ever did, Dex had seemed more and more exasperated with each interaction. Nursey massaged his temples as he retreated into his apartment. It was just his luck that the only person he’d had any interest in for ages would be someone who hated him.

“What am I doing?” Ransom was asking when Nursey dropped into the armchair opposite him. “He’s _noticed_ me. He’s noticed me and talked about me and has a _nickname_ for me for when he talks to his friends about him, and here I am talking to some stranger on an app instead of _him.”_

“You could take him for brunch at Jerry’s,” Nursey said in a dull voice. It was hard to worry about Ransom having too many people interested in him when the only person he’d connected with over the app was someone he thought of as a friend and nothing more, and the only person he had any interest in disliked him.

“Um, can’t you just talk to both of them?” Chowder asked, frowning at Ransom.

“Bro, it’s not— I mean, yeah, I could, but I’m still going to end up choosing in the end because I don’t have time for three relationships. It doesn’t matter. I’m still not going to talk to him. It’s built up in my head now. And I’ll have to explain the whole thing to him and— I can’t. It’s too much. The only reason I didn’t delete this app after the third couple asking me if I wanted to help them spice up their sex life was because of Richard. He’s great, okay? He doesn’t know anything about polyamory but when I asked him not to turn it into a thing he accepted straight away and said he’d do his own research. Nobody else has done that. I’m tired of having to explain it to people on there. The whole point of this was not having to explain myself.”

“Yeah,” Nursey agreed.

“You should ask for his number, bro,” Holster said. “Richard’s. Tell him you’re deleting the app but you still want to talk to him.”

Nursey wondered if there had been other incidents other than the couples looking for threesomes, given the grimace on Holster’s face and the tension in Ransom’s shoulders. “Yeah,” Ransom said.

With the volume on Holster’s Spotify account turned down to background noise, and the songs having filtered to slower tunes, the mood shifted to morose. Nursey’s eyes dragged over the wall separating his apartment from Dex’s. Ransom tucked himself under Holster’s arm and agonized over his message to Richard, and Chowder pulled out his own phone as well, though Nursey was sure he was scrolling through Twitter. He was proven right after thirty seconds of silence.

“Cait posted a video today.”

Nursey already knew that. She had messaged him earlier telling him he might enjoy this one, but he was starting to feel guilty over talking to her. He liked her conversation as a friend, but every day it became clearer that he was never going to fall for her. When nobody replied, Chris pulled Holster’s iPad towards him, paused Spotify and opened up YouTube. Nursey watched as she went through her usual introduction spiel, before the video cut to her walking backwards through a forest.

“I’m trusting Will to not let me walk into any trees,” she said with a grin. For once she wasn’t signing, instead using her arms for extra balance, and there was an image of her in the corner translating into ASL which had clearly been added on later. “But he’s having to hold onto a camera and give me directions with one hand so we’ll see.”

“Will?” Holster asked.

“He films for her sometimes, but he’s never been on camera.” Chowder answered. Nursey squinted at him. How many of her videos had Chowder watched?

The video went on as she talked about the forest preserve she was at, and climbed a tree to chat to the camera.

“I told you I’d give you all an update on the Cupid’s Rainbow app. This seemed like a good place to talk about it, because someone I’ve been talking to on there is a big fan of trees. I never really gave them any thought before but I see what he means now. There’s something incredible about nature. I’m thinking of making this a monthly thing, coming here, getting a picture of the same view and seeing how it changes and yet ultimately stays constant. The tree I’m on is hundreds of years old, and stronger than ever. It’s holding over 350 pounds of weight between Will and me, and the branch isn’t even struggling…”

She carried on talking, but Nursey zoned out. Cait was a wonderful girl. She was bubbly and compassionate, and had filmed a video about trees just for him; some stranger who she knew so little about. There was a softness in her eyes; an affection which Nursey wasn’t sure what to think of. He scrolled up their last couple of conversations, searching for hints that Cait was becoming invested in him, and it hurt how blind he had been. The ranting about their days, and the lengthy discussions of everything from television to favorite foods all had an undertone of comfort. She would tell him anything, he realized.

“I’ve got to stop talking to her,” he said, a croak in his voice.

“What?!” Chowder snapped his head up. “But… She’s great! She’s so cute. She’s—”

“Maybe _you_ should ask her out instead, then! I don’t— Shit, C. Just— Fuck. I can’t do this to her.”

Chowder frowned, and Nursey looked back to his phone, ready to message her and let her down as lightly as he could. A new message stared back at him.

 

 

> _Cait_  
>  You know the friends I have who are both pining over people?  
>  They’re simultaneously freaking out to me about them right now  
>  Save me

 

Nursey bit his lip. It was so _easy_ having a friend who he could talk to about anything and not worry about being judged. Did he really want to lose that for the sake of a difference in feelings? They would never meet, most likely. Nothing would change because of it.

 

 

> _D_  
>  Do you want to rant about it or have a distraction?
> 
>  
> 
> _Cait_  
>  RIGHT  
>  SO  
>  I’m gonna call them grumps and peaches because I don’t want to breach their privacy or whatever  
>  Grumps is totally in love with this other person who is the same gender (we’ll call them doc). But grumps is so in the closet and doc is someone grumps doesn’t actually talk to regularly. And doc is also p well known sort of. So i have to be vague because of that but it’s also extra complicated because of it because like where’s the line between a celebrity crush and crushing on a neighbor? Either way it’s never gonna happen and grumps keeps saying that and trying to convince us they don’t even want it  
>  Meanwhiiile doc is friends with fish, who is the person peaches is relentlessly pining over.  
>  Honestly that’s more likely to happen  
>  If either of them ever talk to each other  
>  At least that’s what we thought until we discovered fish has a bf  
>  So now they’re both brooding and it’s exhausting to listen to
> 
>  
> 
> _D_  
>  Damn that’s heavy  
>  Can i ask about the choice of fish and peaches as nicknames?
> 
>  
> 
> _Cait  
>  _ No
> 
>  
> 
> _D_  
>  Ok  
>  Only they probably don’t go together  
>  Sounds like a weird combination
> 
>  
> 
> _Cait  
>  _ Shut up omg


	7. Bitty

The more Bitty texted Jay, the more guilty he felt. Sometimes, it was easy to forget that guilt, when they were laughing and joking, seamlessly starting to tell each other funny little anecdotes about their day, and complaining about people in the city. They avoided talk about work, for the most part, but Jay was now the first person Bitty thought of to tell about anything else, even sooner than Dex or Farmer. Now that they texted instead of having to message each other on the app, it was even easier. Jay had become the person Bitty messaged first thing in the morning and the last person he said goodnight to at the end of the day. They had even called each other a couple of times, though once was a whispered conversation when Bitty was watching Farmer film a video and Jay was at a work thing, and the other was less of a conversation and more Bitty talking Jay through a panic attack.

“Thanks,” Jay had said afterwards, his voice croaky, and yet still warm and familiar, even though it was only the second time Bitty had heard it. “Adam’s on this long-haul flight to Belgium. He normally does this. I— Shit. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, sweetheart,” Bitty had assured him. “I want to help.”

He was in deeper than he’d intended to be.

With his thoughts already on Jay, Bitty longed to talk to him, so he flicked out of the Twitter app and onto his iMessages.

 

 

> _Richard_  
>  I just walked past a poster saying they’re reopening The Falcon!  
>  I’m torn, though, because I just saw some college girls talking about how it looked like a cute place to go pick up boys
> 
>  
> 
> _Jay  
>  _ The Falcon??
> 
>  
> 
> _Richard_  
>  It’s a gay bar they opened just after the Falconer’s Expansion draft, but there was this big thing because people didn’t like the idea of a hockey team being associated with a gay bar  
>  But i guess now between mashkov and chow they’re reopening
> 
>  
> 
> _Jay  
>  _ And nurse
> 
>  
> 
> _Richard_  
>  Nurse is gay?  
>  Or trans?
> 
>  
> 
> _Jay_  
>  He came out as asexual a while back  
>  And is also panromantic  
>  or so I hear
> 
>  
> 
> _Richard_  
>  Oh right  
>  Damn the falconers are god  
>  *good  
>  They could be god too
> 
>  
> 
> _Jay_  
>  Haha yeah  
>  Hey maybe some of them will get in on the club’s opening night
> 
>  
> 
> _Richard_  
>  Do you think?  
>  They probably won’t even know about it
> 
>  
> 
> _Jay  
>  _ I think they will

 

Whatever Jay wanted to say next, he was struggling with it. It was strange because Bitty wasn’t used to him thinking too hard about it, or worrying about wording. Even when he had told him about polyamory, back in their first conversation, Jay had written the explanation quickly. There was none of the typing and deleting which was happening now.

 

 

> _Jay  
>  _ We could go together?

 

Bitty dropped his phone.

He scrambled to pick it back up again, but wasn’t sure what to put. He enjoyed talking to Jay, and what was the point of still talking to him if he wasn’t going to do anything about it? He was still hopelessly pining over his neighbour, though. Ransom, Dex had said. Ransom who lived with Holster. Ransom who was dating Holster. _Fuck it,_ he told himself. He could force himself to get over Ransom for Jay’s sake, without Jay ever finding out how his attention had been split.

 

 

> _Richard  
>  _ You and I?
> 
>  
> 
> _Jay  
>  _ That is, if you want to
> 
>  
> 
> _Richard_  
>  Okay.  
>  Yeah, let’s go.  
>  Meet outside the Starbucks by DD Center?  
>  I know it’ll be closed by then but that’s probably easiest
> 
>  
> 
> _Jay  
>  _ Yeah! Okay. 10.30ish on Friday?
> 
>  
> 
> _Richard  
>  _ It’s a date

 

Bitty stared at his phone a little longer.

“What the fuck am I doing?” he asked the empty room. He had to call Farmer.


	8. Ransom

“I’m a fucking idiot,” Ransom said as he collapsed onto the couch in the player’s lounge of the Dunkin Donuts Center.

Nursey was sat on the floor, relacing his skates like he always did the day of a game. He didn’t look up to answer. “I already knew that, but why?”

“Fuck you, Nurse, I graduated med school top of the class.”

“You said it, not me.” Pulling the lace through the last eyelet, Nursey shot Ransom a mischievous grin.

Ransom scowled at him. Rather than explain, he took out his phone, found his texts with Richard, and scrolled up past a conversation about the latest Taylor Swift drama, to where he’d asked him out. When Nursey had read the conversation he passed the phone back.

“Looks like I’ll have to see who on the team fancies a night out, won’t I? I can’t disappoint him now he thinks we might turn up.”

“That’s what you got from that?” Ransom rolled his eyes. Persuading the team to have a night out would be easy, even a night in a gay bar. A good third of them would be up for it in the name of supporting their teammates, especially once Tater got excited about it.

“If we’re there, you can have a bit of a buffer if things don’t go well,” Nursey said.

“And what about when he freaks out because I’m friends with all his idols?”

Nursey's eyes widened in mock surprise. “You’re friends with Beyoncé and you never told me?”

Ransom chuckled. “Okay, most of his idols, then.”

“How about if someone else was there who wasn’t expecting to end up in the middle of the Falconers?”

It took Ransom a moment to work out what Nursey was suggesting, but when he did, he frowned. “Bro, I thought you wanted to stop the whole Cait thing.”

Nursey groaned. “I know, but I still want to be friends with her. She’s the first proper non-hockey friend I’ve had in ages. I think as long as I meet her beforehand and ask her in person, where I can make it clear it’s just as friends for me, I think it would be cool.”

Nursey pulled out his phone to send her a message, and pulled himself to his feet to take his skates back to the locker room for later. Ransom stared after him, eyebrows raised, and tried not to get his hopes up.


	9. Dex

The moment Dex walked through the door to Cait’s apartment, she pounced on him.

“Chaperone a date for me?”

He blinked at her in confusion. “Since when do you need a chaperone?” he signed.

She wrung her hands, exuding anxiety. “I told D I’d meet up with him, but I’d need a translator there.”

Dex frowned. She didn’t need a translator. She had gone her whole life without one, and wore the external parts of her cochlear implants whenever she was going into social situations with people who didn’t speak ASL.

“I didn’t want to meet him alone,” she signed.

“Okay. Shit, okay,” Dex muttered, then lifted his hands to reply properly. “Of course I will. When?”

“Friday dinner time. I said I’d have to talk to you before we decide on a time.”

Dex flicked through his calendar on his phone. “Make it seven thirty. Now are you ready to go to this hockey game, or what? Bitty’s waiting.”

“I’m ready. You’re wearing the wrong shirt.”

Dex scowled. “I’m not wearing Nurse’s shirt.”

“You’re so boring.”

Cait, for her part, was wearing Chow’s name and number, because of the Californian representation and because she had been impressed with Chow ever since she first discovered him through a link on Facebook to the exclusive article about his signing. Dex knew Bitty would be wearing his special edition t-shirt which had been released the Pride month after Mashkov had come out. Dex didn’t see why it was so bad if he wore a generic Falconer’s jersey with no player’s name attached. He decisively ignored the part of him which ached to show his own support for the LGBTQIA community.

* * *

They got to Jerry’s early on Friday evening, and were sipping on colas as they waited for Cait’s date to arrive. Dex swirled the ice cubes around in his glass, his mind fixed on the letter he had to write to a company who hadn’t completed their payment with his. Cait elbowed him in the side.

“Holy shit.” The words formed on the lips of the man staring at them, but Dex felt like he had said them himself.

Derek Nurse was walking toward them.

Dex had to remind himself to breathe. He looked over his shoulder, assuming or maybe hoping that he was headed for the booth behind them, but nobody was sat there. No, the truth was impossible to deny. Nurse was here for Cait's date.

“What’re the odds of this?” Nurse asked, sitting down opposite them.

Dex signed furiously to Cait, because directing anger at the situation, was safer than addressing the mix of feelings inside him.  _ “Him? Are you fucking with me right now? You brought me on your date with him?” _

“In my defence, I didn’t know who he was.” Caitlin said, her voice squeaking.

“Wait, what did I do?” Nurse asked.

Cait continued to stare at Dex after he had finished translating. He flinched under her gaze, but if she wanted him to speak up, then she could forget it. “Absolutely nothing,” she said. “Anyway, I, uh, I guess you already know Will.”

“Dex,” Nurse said, with half a nod, and a side-eye towards Dex.

“Hockey nickname,” Dex explained, but when Nurse’s eyebrows flew up questioningly, he didn’t elaborate. He didn’t owe Nurse his life story, nor did he want to think about how the two of them might have worked as defensive partners. Not that they would have worked together in any universe that Dex could think up.

Nurse’s lip curled into a smirk. “Right. I’m guessing you already know who I am, too, so introductions are a bit pointless, aren’t they?”


	10. Bitty

Bitty wasn’t sure when he had baked so many pies. The afternoon had flown by in a flurry of stress baking and now he was faced with a counter full of desserts to get rid of. He packed six pie boxes up to take down the hall, and left the rest to deal with later.

It only took him four attempts before he plucked up the courage to actually knock on Ransom’s door. It swung open to reveal Ransom wearing an unbuttoned shirt and smart pants. He stumbled in surprise when he saw Bitty. “Oh. Hi.”

“Hey there! I'm Bitty from number 15. I’ve got all these pies going spare and I thought maybe you’d like a couple for you and your, uh… partner?”

“Holster? Oh, well he’s away on business at the moment, but I can probably get through two. I can probably persuade a few friends to ruin their diets to help me.”

“Right! You’re friends with some of the Falconers. They must have strict diets.”

“Friends and colleagues. I’m actually on the medical team. What flavors?”

“Oh! Awesome! Uh, there’s one blueberry and one apple.”

Ransom smiled as if Bitty had told a joke. “Holster will be sad to miss the blueberry. Do you take orders, too? How much do you charge normally? Wait, wait, is there dairy in these?”

Bitty blinked. “Well of course. There’s butter in the— Oh. Can you not—?”

“I can, it’s okay, I just should check before trying to give it to Nursey.”

The casual mention of Derek Nurse made Bitty squeak, but he resisted the urge of pulling his phone out and texting Dex there and then. Dex was chaperoning Caitlin’s date anyway. Instead, he addressed Ransom’s other questions.

“Uh, I do take orders, yes, but you don’t have to pay me.”

“Bro, thanks,” Ransom said, looking at the pies again. “Why do you have extras? I feel like I  _ should  _ pay you for them, though. How much did they cost to make?”

“Oh don’t be silly. I just bake a lot when I’m stressed and I have a date tonight.” He could feel his cheeks heat up after the admission.

“Ha, me too actually. Hence—” He waved a hand in front of his in-progress outfit.

“Oh,” Bitty said, letting the words sink in. If Ransom was going on a date, but Holster was away on business, did that mean Dex had misunderstood them being together? He would like to believe that, over Ransom cheating. “You don’t look as stressed as me, so I’m guessing it’s not a first date?”

“It is. I’m freaking out inside.”

A laugh escaped Bitty’s lips. “Hey, well hopefully both our nights go well despite it.”

“Yeah,” Ransom agreed. “But if they don’t, how about you come round here and we can have one of these pies and lament our failed dates together?”

If Ransom’s smoulder weren’t enough to make Bitty blush, his words would have done it. “That sounds great,” he said, surprised at how even his voice came out despite his internal screaming because  _ Ransom was flirting with him.  _ “I’ll see you, anyway. I should go change.”

“Good luck for your date!”

“You too!” Bitty replied, though he wasn’t sure how sincere he felt. He bit his lip as he walked back to his room. Perhaps he had to text Dex after all.


	11. Nursey

The date, so far, had been awkward and stilted. None of them seemed to be able to get over the shock of the links between them. Dex was distracted to the point that Cait had to nudge him more than once to get a translation of Nursey’s words, and by the time Dex got up to go to the bathroom, Nursey was relieved to have a reason to eat in silence. He stared down at his vegan burrito, refusing to give into the urge to watch Dex walk away.

The awkwardness between them faded away once Dex wasn’t there. They couldn’t talk, and Nursey wasn’t interested in flirtatious gazes, but he felt more relaxed now it was just the two of them. There was less to be self-conscious about. He looked up at her to find her watching him, a sadness in her eyes. He didn’t understand. Casting his eyes around for a way to cheer her up, he eventually looked from Dex’s fish fillet sandwich to his own bellini. He nudged Cait with his foot, then held the drink by the sandwich, careful not to move too suddenly. He knew himself well enough to be able to picture Dex coming back to a meal drowning in prosecco and peach juice.

“Fish and peach,” he said, feeling the need to clarify even if his words wouldn’t help her. She must have understood, anyway, because she snorted. Nursey put his drink back down again, pleased, but when she went back to eating, he realized he had no idea how to carry on a conversation with her.

They had nearly finished their food by the time Cait sat up straight, looking over Nursey’s shoulder. He turned to see Dex walking back to the table, hands moving in a flurry of motion. Whatever he was saying, Cait seemed a little on edge because of it, but she didn’t reply until he was stood by the booth. “I’m coming too. Just let me pay. Friend in trouble,” she added, to Nursey. “I’m sorry. This was—”

Nursey winced at her tone. It had been pretty awkward for most of the time, but he didn’t want to hear an apology. “No, it’s okay, you don’t— But— Maybe we’re doing this the wrong way? I mean, we got off on the wrong foot. I don’t think I want this to be a romantic thing, but I really like talking to you and if we stop thinking of this as a date, maybe—” he trailed off, and chewed on his lip.

Cait looked up at Dex expectantly, but he was staring at Nursey with a strange look in his eyes. Cait pinched his arm to get his attention, and he flushed as he translated.

“Okay,” she said, after considering his words. “Okay, we’ll do this again, hanging out as friends. Maybe even bring other people along so it’s more casual and there’s less pressure? I’ll check my schedule against yours and let you know when works.”

“Actually, I was thinking— There’s a club opening I’ve got a few extra VIP tickets for tonight if you’re interested? The Falcon?”

Cait’s eyes widened. “That’s the club our friend was supposed to be going to on his date tonight. The friend we have to check on. So why don’t you come with us while we see what’s up with him, and if he’s still going I’m definitely in.”

Dex choked, and Nursey glanced at him in concern, but Cait ignored him, waving over the waiter so that they could pay the bill.

As they left the diner and Dex tapped in the code for the apartment building next door, Dex was tense but Nursey said nothing, not even to comment on the fact that they were going into the same building where Ransom and Holster lived. Whatever Dex was worrying about, Nursey was sure it would be fine.

“Literally,” Cute Blondie said, before he had finished opening the door. “He was stood there half dressed, getting ready for his own date, and he says to me, ‘if our dates don’t work out maybe you can come round here and we’ll eat pie and lament our failed dates together.’ Can you believe it? Salmon shorts actually— You brought him  _ with you?” _

Nursey barely registered Blondie’s words after the revelation that Ransom had flirted with him.

“Uh, yeah” Dex said, glancing back at Nursey. “Cait invited him. Did you decide what you’re going to do about Jay yet?”

_ Jay.  _ There was no way— Nursey tried to suppress his realization, but a half-strangled noise still escaped from his throat. Cute Blondie was going on a date. Tonight. At the Falcon. With someone called Jay.

“I haven’t,” Bitty said, with a sigh. “I should go for the guy I know I like over the blind date, shouldn’t I now? Except I sure feel like I like Jay, too.”

“I’ll be right back,” Nursey muttered, and he hurried into the corridor.

He skid to a stop four doors down, crashing into it and hammering on the door. It felt like an age before Chowder opened it. Nursey winced. Chowder would only be here if Ransom was having second thoughts. He shouted over Chowder’s head. “You have to go.”

_ “What?”  _ Ransom asked, stepping into view.

“The club. The date. You have to go.”

Ransom frowned at him. “How did you even know that—”

“What’s going on?” Dex asked sharply. Nursey jumped, not expecting to have been followed. He shook his head, but didn’t turn around. He didn’t know how long Dex had been there, or what he might have figured out but he could deal with that later. Ransom was more important, now. “Rans, seriously. Go and meet Richard.”


	12. Dex

_ Richard.  _ He had laughed when Bitty first told him what name he had used on the app, but now Dex took in a sharp breath. This time, Nurse looked back at him, and Dex could see the confirmation in his eyes.

“Nursey—” Ransom said

Nurse turned his back on Dex. “Trust me? Please?”

“Aren’t you supposed to be on your date?” Chow interrupted.

“I, uh, I sort of am?” Nurse replied, and he glanced back at Dex again.

“But— Cait—”

Dex stepped forwards. “Hi, I’m Will. Or Dex if you prefer. Cait asked me to go on the date to translate for her. Uh, and we’ve actually met before, but you didn’t know who—”

“Ooh! I know who you are,” Chow said. Dex blinked in surprise. Something about the way he said it implied more than him simply recognizing Dex as Nurse's neighbor, but Dex had no idea what else he could mean.

Ransom’s phone started ringing. “Okay, I’ll go on the date,” he said, with a hint of reluctance in his voice. He looked at his phone instead of any of them. “But you all have to get out so I can talk to Holtzy about it before he falls asleep. I’ll see you at the club.”

“Their date is with  _ each other?”  _ Dex asked in a hushed voice, once the door had closed behind them.

Chow fell into step with them. “Whose date?”

“Bitty’s Richard,” Nurse said. Chow still looked confused, and he added, “Cute blondie’s the same person as Rans has been talking to online all this time.”

“Woah.” Chow’s eyes widened comically, then his face contorted into a smirk. “And meanwhile you were talking to the friend of  _ your  _ next-door neighbor.” Nurse dug his fingers into Chow’s side, and shot Dex a worried look, which Dex tried to ignore.

“Eric,” he said. “Bitty’s name is Eric. Richard’s his middle name. Don’t call him either. They don’t suit him, at all.”

Nursey nodded. “Look, I don’t know about Bitty, but Rans does this thing when he’s stressed, and Holtzy can talk him out of it. He’ll probably convince him to go on the date, but Rans would short-circuit if I told him who it’s with, now.”

Dex chewed on his lips. “You don’t want to tell him?” When Nursey shrugged, he frowned. “What about Bitty?”

“I don’t— You can tell Bitty if you want, but _ I _ can’t. He’s not out properly. Even working for the Falconers he’s worried enough about what being in a relationship with another man could do to his career, and that’s before he even goes into the whole wanting to be in multiple relationships thing. The fact he’s willing to meet Richard. Bitty. Whoever. Whatever. That’s a big deal, and so's him flirting with Bitty. But I said I wouldn’t tell anyone about his sexuality.”

Dex tensed. He thought of all the times he had made excuses to his brother, or to colleagues at work. Plausible deniability was a useful tool. “Okay.” Nurse stared at him, and Dex repeated himself with more conviction. “Okay. I get it. He could see Bitty and play it off as a coincidence they’re both there if it’s too scary, and I’m not going to stop him from being able to do that.”

His eyes darted around the corridor, trying to avoid looking at either of the professional hockey players in his company. Words bubbled up inside him, and he tried to repress them, but it was difficult to leave them unaware just how well he understood Nurse’s reasoning.

“Dex?” Chow said. It was the softness in his voice which opened Dex up to him.

“Being in the closet is awful, but coming out can be worse. As long as you’re certain it’s the best way for Ransom to find out—” He looked back at Nurse, begging him silently to be certain that it would be better this way.

“I really do,” Nursey promised.

“Do you want a hug?” Chow asked Dex. He flinched at the knowledge that Chow would only ask that if he had understood that Dex was, himself, closeted, but he settled into Chow’s open arms anyway.

“So… can we persuade Bitty to go on this date without telling him why he has to?” Nurse asked, running a hand awkwardly through his hair.

Dex hummed his affirmation after only slight hesitation. “If we say we’re going too. Cait and I,” he said through gritted teeth. He thought of his picture showing up in a tabloid the next day, at a gay bar with a group of hockey players. How difficult would it be to stay out of the limelight and keep the business world unaware if that happened?

“‘Swawesome!” Chow cheered. “It’s going to be a good night.”

They reached Bitty’s apartment and Dex let them in. Bitty and Cait looked up at the three of them. Cait had put her transmitters on after Dex had followed Nurse, and Dex hoped that meant she had caught Bitty up with anything he needed to know. Dex wasn’t ready to talk about Nurse being Cait’s date, beyond the texts he had sent Bitty from the restroom at Jerry’s. When both their mouths dropped open, Dex remembered Chow hadn’t been with them before.

“Uh, so Chow was at my friend’s,” Nurse explained, “and he’s now talking to his— uh— Holster. So he kicked him out, but he’s coming to the club with— me tonight, anyway. And you all, if you’re going?”

“I said I’d go if Bitty does,” Cait reminded him. Nurse shifted at Dex’s side and Cait flushed, a hand touching the transmitter hooked over her ear. Nurse didn’t say anything, and Dex refused to check his expression, but at least whatever Cait saw made her relax.

“I— Sure.” Bitty stammered, his eyes darting between Nurse and Chow. “It would be rude not to, wouldn’t it?”

A smile tugged on Dex’s lips. “Of course. And who knows, maybe Jay will turn out to be everything you wanted and more.”

Bitty raised his eyebrows skeptically. “Maybe.”

“Okay, well I should go and get changed. C? You coming to mine?” Nurse asked. Chow dragged his eyes away from Cait to nod.

“I’ll walk with you,” Dex suggested. “Are you sure you have enough of the VIP tickets? Do we owe you anything?”

“VIP tickets?” Bitty repeated.

“We’re good for them,” Nurse said, his tone stopping Dex from arguing.


	13. Bitty

“Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God.” Bitty paced up and down the living room, his voice high and tight. “I can’t believe— Did I really just agree to go clubbing with an NHL team?”

“I think you agreed for the both of us,” Farmer told him. She held her phone up and snapped a picture of him.

“What are you doing?”

“Showing Dex how badly you’re freaking out right now.”

“And him!” Bitty added, waving a hand towards the door emphatically. “Walking around with two pro hockey players as if they’re just neighbors. Or  _ friends. _ ”

“They  _ are  _ neighbors.”

“That’s not the point!”

Farmer huffed out a laugh, but there was something in the noise which didn’t sound right. Bitty stopped pacing. She had curled up on the couch, her body curved defensively against the armrest, and her eyes were fixed on her phone, although the screen was black and Bitty hadn’t heard any tones to indicate new messages.

“Are you okay, honey?”

“I— I mean, I knew I wasn’t necessarily getting what I thought from an online relationship. And he never talked as if he was interested in me like that. But part of me’s been falling for him and of all the people in the world— He’s Will’s, and he spent the whole time tonight looking at him more than me. So I guess that’s mutual.”

“Sweetheart.” Bitty’s heart dropped at her tone, so accepting and self-deprecating.

“It’s okay,” she said, when he had wrapped her up in his arms. “It’s just hard not knowing if I’ll ever find someone who wants to put me first.”

“You  _ will.  _ You, Caitlin Farmer, are amazing and you’ll find someone who appreciates you for the ethereal human being that you are, and until you do, fuck them all because they don’t deserve you.”

She pressed a smile into his shoulder. “Thanks Bitty. I don’t think I’ll fuck this one, though.”

“ _ Farmer!” _

She snorted, and when she pulled away her nose was scrunched up in silent laughter. “Thanks, Bits. The same goes for you, you know? You’re great, and I think you should try tonight and see how it goes because… well, who knows maybe you’ve got your own professional hockey player waiting for you. Maybe it’ll be Mashkov!”

“Oh, stop it.”

Farmer’s smile settled into a new softness. “But if it’s not him, and if he actually ends up not being as great as he seems online, at least then you’ll know and you can come back and try again until you find someone right for you.”

* * *

The two of them approached the dark Starbucks sign together. Dex was already there with Nurse and Chow, chatting to them as if they had been friends for years. Bitty watched in astonishment as they dissolved into laughter, Dex grabbing onto Chow’s arm for support.

“Oh!” Chow was the first to notice them. “You made it!”

The lump in Bitty’s throat was too big to say anything, so he nodded.

“You’ve got this,” Dex told him, stepping closer so he could slap a hand on Bitty’s shoulder. “It’ll be great.”

Bitty still didn’t say anything. He wasn’t sure, but he at least had the strength to lean against the wall outside the coffee shop, and not follow his friends and new (NHL) acquaintances as they walked off somewhere else so as not to scare off Jay when he arrived.

Five minutes passed, and Bitty had run out of apps to scroll through on his phone. He looked both ways down the street again. No sign of any Falconers jerseys or Maple Leafs snapbacks.

Another three minutes passed, and Bitty had reached the point where he was checking the time on his phone dozens of times before it changed. He sought out Dex and Farmer, waiting by the line to the club, and made to move, but Dex shook his head fervently, and muttered something to Nursey, who glanced over his shoulder with a concerned expression, then at his phone.

Once it was twenty to eleven, Bitty gave up. Jay wasn’t coming. This had been a huge mistake.

He turned, opening up his group chat with Dex and Farmer. He couldn’t bear to walk up to them now and face their pity for being stood up.

“Wait!” someone called. “Don’t go. I’m sorry I’m late.”

Bitty spun back around. His mouth dropped open.

“J-Jay?”


	14. Ransom

Ransom bent over his knees, trying to catch his breath. He had almost not come at all, especially when Holster had fallen asleep on the phone with him. He was so content to sit and listen to his snores, but once it was clear that Holster was out for the night, he had hung up rather than waste any more overseas minutes. There was a string of texts from Nursey, which brought his mind back to the club. He would be late for meeting Richard, and maybe late enough that Richard would no longer be there, but Ransom had felt so guilty over the thought of standing him up, he ran.

Nursey’s investment in him going had become clear when he caught a glimpse of the man waiting for him. The light caught golden hair, and Ransom’s breath hitched.

“Richard.” He forced out, between gasps, once he had Bitty’s attention. “Bitty— oh my God, it’s you.”

“Is this—” Bitty stared at him like he might disappear. “Did Dex put you up to this?”

“What?”

“Or— Or are you just here because Nurse or Chow felt sorry for me getting stood up. I don’t—” Bitty’s voice raised, as if he were talking to somebody else a bit further away. “I don’t need your  _ pity.” _

“Wait—” Ransom tried, but Bitty had already spun away from him again.

“Bits, no, it’s not like that.” Dex ran out of the shadows near the club, followed by Nursey, Chowder and a woman — Cait, Ransom assumed.

“Richard,” Ransom said again.

“It’s Bitty. Well. Eric. But. Richard’s my middle name.”

“Bitty, then. I didn’t know it was you. Please.”

Bitty looked over at their friends, frozen on the opposite sidewalk. “But you—”

“I only figured it out tonight,” Nursey told him. “You were going here on a blind date. With someone called Jay. So it was too big a coincidence, and Cait literally  _ told  _ me you— I mean—” He glanced over at Cait. “We’re going to go on in. Rans, you got the tickets? You two should catch us up when you’ve had a chance to talk.”

He grabbed onto Dex’s elbow and steered him towards the club, Chowder falling into step with Cait behind them. Ransom ignored them in favor of Bitty. “Bitty,” he said softly.

“Were you going to stand me up? If he didn’t— Nurse texted you, didn’t he? Made sure you came?”

“I didn’t— I’ll be honest I didn’t want it to go well tonight. Because today I realized I might have a chance with someone I’d been holding out for a really long time so long as it  _ didn’t  _ go well with  _ Richard.  _ I couldn’t stand him up, though. That was too cruel, especially when I like him as much as I do.”

During the silence which followed, Ransom closed the gap between them, stopping when he could see the tears reflecting the street lamps on Bitty’s face, and the cluster of freckles on his nose.

“Who were you holding out for?” Bitty asked, and while there was hesitation in his voice, Ransom could also hear hope.

“Bitty,” he answered. He reached out to cup Bitty’s cheek, and a thrill run down his spine when he leaned in. His eyes were drawn to Bitty’s adam’s apple when he swallowed.

“Sweetheart,” Bitty murmured, as he raised up onto tiptoes to bring their lips mere millimeters apart.

“I’m gonna kiss you now. And then we’re going to go and take advantage of the free drinks the tickets in my pocket will get us.”


	15. Farmer (Epilogue)

Farmer sat back in the couch to observe the scene before her. The roped off VIP section of the club gave her an excellent view of both dance floors and the bar, so she could see when Bitty and Ransom entered. There was a coy smile on Bitty’s face as Ransom led him by the hand toward the bar. She could see Mashkov and Snow playing wingman for each other on the public dance floor, amid a group of people who looked like they might pass out from the interaction. Then there was Will, joking around with Nursey and Chow — a surreal sight she never would have predicted. His hand rested on the small of Nurse’s back for a full minute before Will realized what he was doing and jerked away like he had been given an electric shock. Farmer searched for Ransom and Bitty again, and watched as they slipped into a private corner of the room with their beers.

“Cait?” Nursey sat down next to her.

“Nursey?”

“I’m sorry. This started off with us on a date and now— I shouldn’t have ditched you. I wish— I just—”

“It’s okay. You don’t like me like that. You can’t force it,” She told him. Nursey’s face twisted. Farmer squeezed his shoulder, and urged, “Really. Please don’t feel sorry for me. That makes it worse. I couldn’t have— Honestly the moment I found out who you were, I knew it wouldn’t work.”

“Why not?” He didn’t sound offended; merely curious.

“For the same reason you should get back over to Will. He loves this song.”

Nursey laughed. “Of course he does. I hate this song.”

“But is that enough to stop you wanting that dance, Doc?”

The name had an immediate effect on him. His eyes widened as they sought Will out, and his jaw slackened fleetingly, before it settled into a smirk. He stood. “I’ll send Chowder over this way. Thanks, Cait. I’m sorry. But I’m looking forward to being friends with you properly.”

“Chowder,” she repeated. She felt stuck on that part of what he’d said, because she should have thought about how suggesting Nursey and Will dance would turn Chow into a third wheel. “Do you think he’ll feel terribly left out?”

Nursey’s grin widened. “That’s not what I meant.”

Farmer didn’t have long to muse over Nursey’s words before Chow sat next to her. “You’re not videoing this?” he asked.

She squeaked in surprise. “It wouldn’t make for much of a video.”

“Oh, I don’t know. You could have done it like you did with that after party at vidcon last year? I loved that video. It was edited in such a cool way.”

“You— You’ve watched that?”

He smiled and nodded. “I watched all of your videos after Nursey showed me your channel. I got a little hooked on them. Marty had to tell me off for watching one on my phone when we were going through plays.”

“All of them?”

“Yeah! I really enjoyed them. You were at Boston college, weren’t you? I went to Samwell!”

“I know. I mean. Well, I guess I followed your career a little.”

“Really?” It was his turn to be surprised, looking at her with wide eyes and a dropped jaw.

“My family were huge on hockey. Someone from the same home state as me and going to college in the same state as me even though it’s on the other side of the country? Then us both ending up in Providence when he’s playing in the NHL? And it's not like you were low profile. You were the first trans man in the NHL. I definitely noticed you. You’re like, my favorite player.”

“No way.”

“Seriously! I have your jersey. I never buy hockey jerseys. They make my ass look weird.”

“I don’t believe that.”

His sincerity made her laugh, but Chowder’s eyes didn’t falter, and nor did his soft smile. Farmer sat up a little straighter. Bitty and Ransom were in the middle of the dance floor, now, though they acted like they were the only ones in the world. Dex and Nursey had retreated to the bar, talking closely, except for when Dex threw a self-conscious glance around the room. The potential in Chowder, to be everything Farmer had wished Nursey might be, felt stronger by the second. For now though, she definitely knew how she wanted to enjoy tonight.  She slid out of the booth and extended her hand back to Chowder with a sly smile. 

“Dance with me?”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank-you to my beta @justaphage
> 
>  
> 
> Come reblog this work and view others from this fest [HERE](https://omgcpheartbreakfest.tumblr.com/) on the omgcpheartbreakfest tumblr page!


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